2009 Formula One Season
The 2009 Formula 1 Season will be the 60th F1 season. The first Grand Prix will take place on March 29 in Australia with the final Grand Prix taking place on November 1 in Abu Dhabi. 10 teams and 20 drivers will compete the Championship although there is a possibility that Prodrive will enter a team after pulling out of the 2008 season, but this is seen as a very slim possibility. On December 5, 2008, Honda announced that it was to withdraw from F1 with immediate effect. The team was put up for sell but if a buyer is not found within a month, the team will not compete in 2009. Teams and Drivers Car Launches Schedule *Due to the Hockenheimring holding the naming rights to Großer Preis von Deutschland (German Grand Prix), it's possible that the currently named German Grand Prix and European Grand Prix may have their titles changed. The Grand Prix at the Nürburgring will possibly be named the Luxembourg Grand Prix or European Grand Prix while the Grand Prix at the Valencia Street Circuit could be named the Mediterranean Grand Prix. Changes Schedule Changes *The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix joins the calendar for the first time becoming the second Grand Prix in the Middle East. It will be the final Grand Prix on the calendar. *The Japanese Grand Prix returns to the Suzuka Circuit. It will alternate along with the Fuji Speedway every year. *The France Grand Prix will not be part of the schedule with the organisers stating the reason behind the decision being "economic problems". It will be the first time there has been no French Grand Prix in F1's history. *The Canadian Grand Prix was dropped as it was seen as financially non-viable to continue with just one Grand Prix in North America. *The Chinese Grand Prix was moved to April from it's usual September/October slot. Driver Changes Team Changes Sebastian Vettel - Scuderia Toro Rosso → Red Bull Racing Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri/Honda Racing F1 (test driver) → Brawn GP (test driver) Entered F1 Sébastien Buemi - Trust Team Arden (GP2) → Scuderia Toro Rosso Luca Badoer - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (test driver) → Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Jaime Alguersauri - Scuderia Toro Rosso (test driver) → Scuderia Toro Rosso Romain Grosjean - ING Renault F1 (test driver)→ ING Renault F1 Exited F1 David Coulthard - Red Bull Racing → Retired Takuma Sato - Super Aguri → unknown Rules & Regulations *Along with changes to bodywork, vehicle weight and tyre size, the document includes details of a "Kinetic Energy Recovery System", or KERS. This is a regenerative brake device that is designed to recover some of the vehicle's kinetic energy that is normally dissipated as heat during braking. The recovered energy could be stored electrically, in a battery or supercapacitor, or mechanically, in a flywheel, for use as a source of additional accelerative power at the driver's discretion. *After being banned since 1998, slick tyres will be provided by Bridgestone in 2009. *There will also be a cap on team budgets starting in the 2009 season. *Section 3.18 of the regulations contains details of "driver adjustable bodywork". The angle of incidence of elements in a defined area forward of the front wheels can be varied by up to 6 degrees and adjusted by direct driver input. A maximum of 2 adjustments can be made on any lap. *Engines must now last three races as opposed to two in previous seasons. Broadcasting *The BBC regained coverage from ITV in the UK for the first time since 1996. *LaSexta won the rights from Telecinco in Spain. *TV7 won in Bulgaria replacing bTV. *ESPN Star Sports will show F1 in 24 Asian countries. *GlobalTV will show F1 in Indonesia. *RAI will show F1 in Italy. Category:Formula One Seasons Category:2009